The world in gaming concepts : Pattern matching tops the charts

Not all games are created equal. Each game is based on one or more underlying concepts or themes - Pattern Matching
[1], Fantasy[2], Survival[3],Stunts[4] to name a few. An analysis by InMobi of more than 10,000 games on the network showed interesting trends around concepts and geographical variations.

Around the world in 10 concepts

Users around the world have a personal preference for certain types of games. Short Session
[5] games are the most popular amongst users the world over, with Pattern Matching being the second favorite. Fantasy themed games came a close third.

Popular gaming concepts ranked in order of user preference worldwide

Users in USA, UK, India and Indonesia show a preference for Short Session games, as do users in Japan. Users in Chinese and South Korean prefer Fantasy and Blood & Gore
[6] themed games.

Top gaming concepts by share of users across markets

Concepts and regional variations

Users in North America and Europe demonstrate similar gaming preferences with over 60% of games downloaded being short session games. More than 40% of all games downloaded in these markets had Pattern Matching concepts. While Europe preferred Resource Management
[7] themed games to Blood & Gore themed games, the pattern was reversed in the case of American users.

While the APAC region followed suit in the 1st two categories, that is where the similarity ends. Games in APAC show a clear inclination towards Blood & Gore and Fantasy themed games, with Resource Management rounding up the Top Five.

Popular gaming concepts by share of users

When contemplating user acquisition strategies, developers can now look beyond the basic targeting parameters to identify and reach their audience. Targeting users based on gaming concepts they prefer can provide far more insights. Talk to
InMobi to learn about InMobi’s Appographic Targeting that delivers superior user acquisition results.

[1]Pattern Matching : Genre of games that require manipulation of objects/tiles according to a matching criteria. [2]Fantasy : Genre of games that commonly use magic and other supernatural phenomenon. [3]Survival : Genre of games that focus on fear and last-man standing concepts. [4]Stunts : Genre of games associated with racing games on stunt tracks. [5]Short Session : Genre of games with short session levels/stages. [6]Blood & Gore : Genre of games realistically depicting graphic violence. [7]Resource Management : Genre of games which require the collection of necessary resources needed for a task.